Tent spanning four city blocks snarls traffic as fans line up for Star Wars opening in L.A.

Crews are setting up a massive tent and fans are already lining up in advance of the Star Wars world premiere in Los Angeles.

These fans have been camping out for a week outside Hollywood's Chinese Theater for the best seats at a Dec. 17 screening of the latest Star Wars film. (Zulekha Nathoo/CBC)

The tent spans an unprecedented four blocks along Hollywood Boulevard. Traffic has been blocked for days near the Chinese Theater, one of the city's most popular tourist destinations.

"It's like this volcano is rising up," said Anthony Daniels, who portrays robot C-3PO in the Star Wars film series, describing the anticipation for the film when he sat down with CBC News earlier this week. "People just so long to see this, to see J.J. Abrams' ideas come physically to be on the screen."

The highly anticipated Episode VII: The Force Awakens, directed by Abrams (Star Trek, Mission: Impossible III), has been kept tightly under wraps since filming began in April 2014.

While the movie officially opens Dec.18, a red carpet premiere will take place on Monday evening in Los Angeles.

Another special screening a day before the worldwide release will take place Dec. 17 at the Chinese Theater, where the first Star Wars also had its premiere in 1977.

Devoted fans have camped outside the famous spot for more than a week to snag the best seats for the Dec. 17 screening and try to catch a glimpse of the film's stars at the Dec. 14 premiere.

Jesse Brown, who is from outside Vancouver and has been living in Los Angeles for 14 years, has spent 12 days in line.

Canadian Jesse Brown, who has been living in L.A. for 14 years, chats with a fellow Star Wars fan outside Hollywood's Chinese Theater. They are waiting in line to get the best seats for a Dec. 17 special screening of The Force Awakens. (Zulekha Nathoo/CBC)

"We just want to show our appreciation and the love that we have forStar Wars," he said, sitting near fellow fans outside the theatre after taking a nap under blankets on the pavement.

"What's great about loving Star Wars is that you don't have to speak the same language. Because we love the same thing, we can communicate on the same level."

Daniels, whose familiar voice and mannerisms have been behind the beloved robot since the beginning of the franchise, said he's observed similar reactions from fans to Star Wars over the years.

"There is something absolutely visceral in many people's lives that attaches them to these films," he said. "We all feel, 'This belongs to me'."